You are a breeder. You spend about 8-12 hours a day or more doing "dog things" dedicated to the welfare of your dogs and breeding program.
Your days include the mundane (a trip to the dog food store for 200-500 lbs of dog food plus bags of chewies) and the unexpected (an emergency trip to the vet to relieve an intestinal obstruction caused by olive pits).
You receive phone calls from friends and favorite clients discussing the last batch of shows, and from strangers arguing over your prices because they saw another puppy advertised for $50 so what makes your puppies worth $600-$1800?
Strangers come at all hours to see your puppies, then inflict unruly children on them. A woman wants a Chinese Crested but her husband prefers a "real" dog (a Mastiff or Great Dane). Another women rudely orders you from your living room while she examines a puppy because she took a class and knows how to "test" for temperament.
A woman wants a dog for the bitch she intends to breed twice a year for the next six to eight years and can't understand why you do not (and NEVER will) have one available.
You are interviewed at great length by an out-of-state buyer very specific in her needs, who details her show and obedience plans, her particular likes and dislikes, and requests a four generation pedigree on the sire and dam as well as clear photos, vet records, etc. saying she is a serious buyer with concrete plans who admires your breeding program and activities. You photocopy everything, pack it up with select win photos of the parents and grandparents and send it off, only to be told a week later that she bought a puppy from a friend in her city.
You become friends with a nice old man who wants to buy one of your puppies. Because of his age and the size of his regular breed, he needs a smaller dog. You breed for and select a bitch puppy you believe will be easy to show and finish, with attitude galore. You know he will provide a special home with lots of love and you like him very much. When he is concerned about hard to find majors you offer to take the puppy to an out-of-state circuit where majors are guaranteed and make plans. The only reason to go is to show this special puppy. It's an expensive trip, so you line up others to split the expenses. You take the puppy for special inoculations. You make the entries at your expense. Then the old man calls; the puppy isn't registered and the litter number has expired so she can't be shown. He's known this for weeks but didn't tell you until after the entries closed, so the fee is non refundable. You go on the trip because you've already committed to the others, but have nothing to show. It costs you nearly $1000 to play chauffeur.
When the AKC sends you another puppy application, you register the puppy in your name and return the application by registered mail to ensure delivery. You intend to transfer the puppy back to the old man once the papers arrive. He refuses to show the puppy at an upcoming show because it is not in his name, forgetting this was just a temporary maneuver designed to get a number, and wants to return the puppy although you gave it to him and went on a lengthy and expensive circuit just for this puppy.
As your about to enter the group ring at a local match a woman tells you she has three Chinese Crested from a backyard breeder you never heard of. Instead of asking the breeder, she wants YOU to tell her all about the breed you've spent years studying and breeding and about ring procedure so she can show HER dogs. When you are turned off by her timing and her plan to pick your brain although she will never buy from you, she writes a nasty letter to a local dog publication vilifying you for bad manners and poor sportsmanship.
You wonder if it's worth it, not because of the dogs but because of the people. How do you politely yet adequately explain the costs to the buyers who see a litter of six and assume you'll make $5000 for "only" eight weeks of work? How do you tell them about the bitch you artificially inseminated three times to ensure conception, only to face an emergency c-section and separated placentas; that you, two friends, the vet and a vet tech spent four hours in surgery giving mouth-to-mouth to seven puppies of which only two survived? How do you explain the costs of breeding a bitch that after three consecutive breedings did not take despite your investment and when she finally did whelp a litter you only got three puppies and one was stillborn? How do you explain to new buyers that took their puppy to an emergency vet who told these people their pup's ear infection was due to poor kennel maintenance (all breeders are filthy to these vets) and are now demanding a refund for their medical expenses without knowing the facts?
You breed because you love it, not for the money as there is no money in it. Food bills, vet bills(emergency care, routine care and genetic health testing), show entry fee's, show expenses (gas, meals, hotels or RV parking fee's) show supplies (grooming equipment and supplies, tables, etc.), kennel help, kennel supplies and cleaning aids, toys, advertising, etc. costs far too much.
You may occasionally make money if the breeding is natural, the whelping trouble-free, the litter large enough, most are show quality, no extraordinary medical expenses are incurred, buyers are waiting to take their puppy home the first day they are available to leave and the next litter or next emergency doesn't eat up all the profits. However, you know the law of averages; it's only a matter of time before "routine" expenses far outweigh the rare profit.
You wish you could explain all this to everyone who calls, talks to you at matches or shows some interest in what you do but says it is cheaper to buy from backyard breeders, but until they have been there, they won't understand!
You are a breeder.
A Breeder's View